Fornaciari Antonio, Giuffra Valentina
Università di Siena, Dipartimento di Storia delle Arti, Sezione di Archeologia Medievale, Siena, I.
Med Secoli. 2006;18(3):925-42.
Sicily is one of the Italian regions richest in mummified corpses. In addition to the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, a true unicum for their exceptional number of individuals, several other mummies collections, dated back to the late Modern Age, are present in many churches, convents and funerary chapels. The Sicilian mummies are the result of a particular treatment, obtained by drying the body in favourable microclimatic conditions without evisceration, a method which permitted equally to achieve a good state of preservation. The mummification was an extremely diffuse phenomenon in Sicily during the 18th and 19th centuries, not only among the privileged classes, but also among the middle-class. Besides the "Cappuccini Catacombs" of Palermo, at present the sites of Sicilian mummies known in scientific literature are restricted to Comiso (Ragusa) and Savoca (Messina); up to now in fact this historical-biological heritage has not been properly surveyed. In this article we present the first results of a survey carried out in the Messina's province during July 2005. The research enabled us to investigate this cultural phenomenon, to document the architectural structures appointed to the mummification process and to enrich the knowledge about the presence of mummified bodies in eastern Sicily during the Modern Age.
西西里岛是意大利拥有木乃伊尸体最为丰富的地区之一。除了巴勒莫的嘉布遣会地下墓穴，因其独特数量的个体堪称独一无二之外，许多教堂、修道院和葬礼小教堂中还存有其他一些可追溯至近代晚期的木乃伊藏品。西西里岛的木乃伊是一种特殊处理方式的产物，即在有利的微气候条件下不进行内脏摘除而使尸体干燥，这种方法同样能够实现良好的保存状态。在18世纪和19世纪，木乃伊化在西西里岛是一种极为普遍的现象，不仅在特权阶层中存在，在中产阶级中也很常见。除了巴勒莫的“嘉布遣会地下墓穴”，目前科学文献中已知的西西里岛木乃伊遗址仅限于科米索（拉古萨省）和萨沃卡（墨西拿省）；事实上，迄今为止这一历史生物遗产尚未得到妥善勘查。在本文中，我们展示了2005年7月在墨西拿省进行的一项勘查的初步结果。这项研究使我们能够探究这一文化现象，记录用于木乃伊化过程的建筑结构，并丰富对近代西西里岛东部木乃伊尸体存在情况的认识。
